The Environmental Impact of Fracking in North Carolina

Four months after a massive coal ash spill devastated the Dan River, and before the state has remedied its coal ash problem, North Carolina is poised to open a new can of worms.

On June 4, 2014, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed the Energy Modernization Act, lifting a moratorium on natural gas drilling in the state.

Pat McCrory has signed into law a bill that clears the way for permits to be issued for gas drilling by a method called fracking in North Carolina as soon as next spring.

“The expansion of our energy sector will not come at a cost to our precious environment. This legislation has the safeguards to protect the high quality of life we cherish,” he said.

The environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing of shale in North Carolina includes the potential contamination of ground water, risks to air quality, migration of gases and chemicals to the surface, excessive amounts of water used for fracking, and the disposal of fracking waste. What Could Fracking Mean for North Carolina? It could mean an environmental disaster! Fracking uses high volumes of water, and contamination can occur through a variety of mechanisms. Fracking fluids are a mixture of highly toxic “trade secret” chemicals, using large volumes of water to inject those chemicals underground. Surface spills, storm and waste-water management, storage and leakages are of major environmental concern. Read Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources: Separating Fact From Fiction. Learn More at NoFrackingInStokes.org

Related:

NOFRACKINGINSTOKES.org
In the future, many North Carolinians may find themselves faced with the decision of whether or not to lease their property for the natural gas extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing or ‟fracking.” This video is an illustration of one man’s journey in making this decision. To find out more about your North Carolina property rights and how issues such as forced pooling can affect them.

Fracking? NC’s geology doesn’t support it
The only possible locations of oil and gas accumulation in North Carolina are rift basins formed about 200 million years ago when North America separated from West Africa. One of these basins is the Deep River, which is subdivided into three sub basins. The area of particular interest to us is the Sanford sub basin in Chatham and Lee counties. It contained small coal mines, of which the best known was the Egypt mine, which exploded in 1925.

Senate committees fast-track fracking
“Fracking would threaten our waters, from the Dan River to the Cape Fear, and the drinking water for more than 2 million North Carolinians,” said Elizabeth Ouzts, state director for Environment North Carolina. “This bill puts fracking on the fast track and our rivers in jeopardy.”